three.

IMG_0307, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

his birthday arrived after a week of sickness.  mama stressed about another test.  not managing to do anything for father's day. i felt like such a failure.


seriously, i didn't have a card or a gift for him until chris and i went for dinner saturday night and popped into a bookstore to browse.  we found ourselves in the toy section and realized we hadn't even bought him a gift.  i'll admit that i had looked for one about  month ago, but the store didn't have it and i had resigned myself to not getting exactly what he wanted.


we had to postpone his party because he came down with the hand, foot, and mouth virus earlier in the week.  he had a mild case of it, thankfully, but i was totally out of birthday mode since we wouldn't be celebrating until the next weekend.


and then i spent most of his birthday weekend studying and stressing out.  and then i started to feel bad for myself because i'm no good at multi-tasking when it comes to my own life and my family. 


in the end it doesn't matter.  we sang happy birthday to our sweet little boy; had a wonderful breakfast out to celebrate both the birthday boy and his special daddy; ate yummy brownie sundaes; and his big brother picked out a special present for him.  we spent special time together despite my anxiety.


at the end of the night, i crawled right into bed next to my little boy.  three years ago i would never have imagined how much joy he would bring to our family, how big his smile would be, how bright his eyes would shine when would look directly at his mama.  happy birthday christian.  the past three years have been amazing.

grateful friday.

lazy daisy, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

- glitter nailpolish.
- exciting things on the horizon for our family.
- andrew's last day of pre-k. he's officially a kindergartner!
- yasso frozen yogurt bars. thank you, i'll have another.
- my wavy hair. it is starting to not irritate me.

i know you, you know me

recipe - mac n cheese, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

i had a request for this recipe and post, written on my old blog.  post written july 21, 2010.

my family has a few die-hard recipes that we always go back to. i've never been a fan of mac n cheese. i admit it. my mom didn't make it all that often and i've never really liked cheese. and then once i found out that dairy and i are not bffs, well. cheese and i parted ways.


but then i found myself pregnant and able to eat cheese without any repercussions (gross, i know) and my sister's mac n cheese became my favorite.


her secret? using seasoned salt instead of regular table salt. i like to mix it up, so i use 1/2 tsp seasoned salt, and 1 tsp regular salt.


anyway, her recipe is hands-down the best recipe, and now i have friends calling me for it. so much that i typed up a pretty recipe card so i can give it to them and they'll hopefully save it and stop calling me. and i feel like i should share it with you, too.

i'm no superman.

waterbury tulip festival, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

on thursday night, i drove to class and the theme song to scrubs came on my ipod. i'm no superman. i sang along, loud and proud.

see, i usually arrive late to wherever i am going. i forget to finish things and i leave things to the last minute. i take on more than i can handle.

when it is important, i can finish it, but man, is that hard with the responsibilities of being a mom. this week, i needed help. the stress of the impending exam saturday morning was more than i could handle. friday night, i was mean to my family. i snapped. it was due to the stress. it was because i was not trusting that God could handle it for me.

 so this week, i am late, once again, to grateful friday. but i am grateful. grateful for help from my mom and mother-in-law. babysitting just when i need it. a husband who has made dinner for the family many more times than he should have, as a man who supports his family only on his income. for friends who study with me. for the peace that God can give us when we just trust him.

i'm no superman. but i think i did pretty stinking good on that exam. and i'm also grateful that is is over, and i can move on to the next challenge.

*random picture added because pictures make even my depressing posts just a little bit happier.

delicious.

IMG_0217, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

my sister and the kids came over for memorial day so i made sure to have some popsicles on hand. and i was so grossed out by the food coloring on the tongues and faces. i'm pretty sure that the popsicles (cheap ones from target) had no real fruit or fruit juice in them. gross.

so last week i bought a popsicle mold from amazon.com. then i went looking for recipes. one of the easiest ones i found was on martha stewart. puree watermelon and a tiny bit of sugar and freeze in your molds. the kids were crazy about them and chris and i even had one. i'm definitely more likely to have a popsicle on a hot day if i know what is in it.

and for the kid in me, the rocket shape helps too.

back in baby's arms

IMG_0105, a photo by sassyladybug on Flickr.

i have my camera back. i am so happy that it is fixed but more overjoyed that it is back in my hands. i have missed it. i have lots of work to do this week, with a very important exam on saturday. but i could not resist this photo of my niece dancing with andrew. i love spontaneous moments.